Inspired to Learn: Jenny’s Homesteading Journey

“Homesteading to me is a lifestyle of doing things for yourself.” – Jenny

Homesteader Profile: Jenny, her husband, and their children live on just shy of 1/2 acre on a suburban lot in upstate New York.

Jenny’s Homesteading Journey

My grandparents on both sides of my family inspired so much of my reason to start homesteading. I grew up eating homemade canned goods from my grandparents’ gardens. My grandfather is also a bee keeper so I never knew the taste of store bought honey until I was an adult (from a friend’s house!).

I continued these traditions with my own family as it helped us stretch our budget and I preferred to make it myself.

I started gardening and had no idea what I was doing. Once my kids were in school full time, the opportunity to go back to school presented itself and I said the only thing I would pay for was to learn how to garden. So that’s exactly what I did. Getting a degree in plant science gave me the basis of homesteading skills to build upon.

From there, I decided to learn a new homesteading skill every year. In the past few years, I have taught myself to knit, I took a class to learn how to make cheese, became a Master Composter, joined a group of friends to study medicinal herbs, took a soap making class.

Just this year, I learned how to bake my own breads. I love to be able to say I made it myself and have tried to make so many things, especially for gifts. I’m fortunate that my husband is skilled with machinery, hunting, and loves to cook. If I come up with a plan, he helps me build it.

Our goal is to eventually move out of the suburbs and into the woods where he can hunt in our backyard and I can have all the bees and chickens I want (we don’t live in a zone that allows us to do that now).

My dream is to live off the land with no money and no clocks. For now, my husband and I have agreed to stay where we are until our kids graduate school.

I am a non-traditional homesteader. What is a non-traditional homesteader? I'd like to think we are the people who don't fit the mold. I am a busy mom on a small bit of property with not a lot of financial resources, but I am figuring out how to live the life I want. A homesteader's life.

Welcome! My name
is Jessica Lane. I live a nearly self-sufficient lifestyle with my sweet
husband and three beautiful children on 1/4 acre in Maine. We raise Nigerian Dwarf goats, ducks, and chickens, and we grow as much food as we can. What we can't grow or produce ourselves we barter for. If we can homestead where we live, what's stopping you?